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Please join us for the launch of the Second Edition of the Charitarian magazine.  Vice-Mayor Wang Liwei, Editor of the Charitarian, will speak on “What is the role of foreign companies and NGO’s in China in 2010?” To hear the latest news from Mr. Wang, after his attendance at the Ministry of Civil Affairs meeting held in Beijing last week and the Asia Media Conference, join us at Today Art Museum on Thursday evening.  He will provide an up to the minute report on the role foreign companies and international NGO’s are expected to play in China’s development in the next five years.  As China grows in global stature the Government are committed to reducing the domestic wealth gap through the development of charitable foundations and social enterprises. Wang Liwei will outline the legal infrastructure and incentive schemes that will underpin this process.

This will be a fairly intimate gathering with a background of inspiring modern art. Hot food and drink will be provided and we encourage you to stay behind and chat informally with Wang Liwei; he will feedback your views to central government to contribute to the development of sustainable international business and domestic civil society in China.

A hot buffet and drinks will be served in the hope that you can stay to enjoy the art and chat with the diverse crowd that this event often attracts.

Thursday 15 April, 6:30 – 9:00 pm
Main Entrance of Today Art Museum
Theme: What is the role of foreign companies and NGO’s in China in 2010?
Speaker: Vice-Mayor, Wang Liwei, Editor of the Charitarian
Cost: 150 RMB includes a buffet and drinks and a free copy of the Charitarian 2nd Edition.  All proceeds will go Haiti Beijing Student Appeal.

No Press coverage allowed.  Thank you.

RSVPs are essential. This is an invite only event.  Please register here.

Beijing – Clare Pearson is no ordinary lawyer.

Half an hour before a scheduled meeting at a downtown café last Thursday, she was already sitting comfortably in a corner table, typing furiously on a compact laptop. With her brows locked in a concentrated frown, fingers skipping across the tiny keyboard, and body leaning slightly towards her computer screen, Pearson skillfully segregated herself from the noisy crowd, occasionally turning to her notebooks to flip through pages filled with seemingly illegible scribbles.

To read the complete article by  Nini Suet, click here.

Pearson, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Manager of DLA Piper UK LLP Beijing, says being different can lead to social isolation, especially if you do not conform to certain etiquette. “In London, drinking and going to the pub is a form of social bonding, which most lawyers do after work. As I don’t drink, I didn’t fit into this social scene, so I carved out different social circles for myself.” In China, she adds, lawyers are extremely tolerant of social differences, and they are good at embracing diversity, unlike the situation in Britain, which remains a relatively conformist society. (more…)

While it is becoming clearer that Oxfam Hong Kong has fallen foul of the mainland’s education departments, crucial questions remain unanswered, including what the charity has done to deserve such treatment and what it means for other NGOs on the mainland. (more…)

After three years as a strictly Chinese language magazine the Charitarian has published its first English edition.

The Magazine aims to coverage issues that could be helped by a concerned public.

It aims to bring such stories to the English speaking world for the first time.

Jeremy Nuttall reports. (more…)

Beijing resident Clare Pearson talks about her experiences of Chinese New Year in the nation’s capital, including where best to view the fireworks, what food to look out for and why sticking around in town is one of the best ways to appreciate this unique event.  Listen to the interview here.  (Windows Media Player necessary)

He’s a Chinese government official. She’s a British lawyer. Together they publish a magazine that hopes to lift a veil of illegitimacy clouding a local NGO scene that’s thriving in a gray area of Chinese society.

Edited by Wang Liwei, vice-mayor of Guan County in Shandong Province, and Clare Pearson, a lawyer at the Beijing offices of DLA Piper, The Charitarian wants to encourage the local non-profit sector by informing NGOs about how to operate within government goal and guidelines. (more…)

Gazing round the Buick showroom with my psychiatrist friend to choose the final finishing on his new land cruiser, I realized that not every business was doing badly in the recession.  Psychiatrists who treat angst ridden CEO’s in the central business district of Beijing are doing a roaring trade.  One area on which China CEO’s are currently schizophrenic is in their approach to CSR. Multinational companies operating in China have taken two approaches; 1) Sack the CSR manager; or 2) sack just about everyone else and invest in CSR. (more…)

Even in modern times, communities existed before governments were here to take care of public needs. There were many groups of people with a common sense of purpose and a feeling of duty to one another, before there were political institutions forcing them to perform their duties.

– Daniel Boorstin, The Decline of Radicalism (1969) (more…)